On the Road to Siena

Rita is happily modeling her new boots and cooler weather gear.

Rita woke with a sense of anticipation as this was the day we were going to visit the Designer Outlet Mall just outside of Florence. Sony, Bang & Olufsen, Panasonic I asked? No; Prada, Bruno Magli, D&G and Calvin Kline she replied with a huge smile on her face that told me our savings were in serious jeopardy. We packed our bags, checked out of our lovely apartment and ordered a taxi to the parking garage and headed to the Mall. 3 hours later, Rita was very happy as she had a 90% shopping success rate. We loaded into the car and headed for what should have been a 2 hour drive to our next destination. As soon as we hit the highway we were in a huge traffic jam. It took a little over an hour to move 18.5 km. By the time we hit Siena it was 6:30 and dark. We were staying in a converted barn at a farmhouse 12 km outside of Siena . Our Tom Tom could take us to the nearest Village, which was about 1.5 km from our destination. Rita had received written instructions and so we thought we should be fine. We got to the village no problem and then relied on the written instructions. We headed onto a rough gravel road with branches from the trees brushing the sides of the car. Somehow, I managed to take a wrong turn and Rita decided to call for help. 10 minutes later we were at our home for the next 10 days. It was 7:10 and the grocery store in the village closed at 7:00. Tomorrow was a National Holiday and all the shops would be closed. The landlady made a phone call to the owners of the grocery store and they agreed to open the shop for us. We felt like Paris Hilton when Tiffanies opens the store for her. Rita picked up the groceries and I picked up the wine. We headed to our barn and a wonderful dinner of tomato salad and pesto spaghetti. Tomorrow we get to see where we landed and explore Siena.

Our Bedroom Loft with windows in the Background. Hopefully, we will have some nice Tuscany views.

Rita checking out the Kitchen and the dining/living area in Foregrond. This will be a real test for us as there is no TV. Only our IPod to entertain us for the next 10 days.